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Nineteen Reservoirs

On Their Creation and the Promise of Water for New York City
By Luc Sante and Lucy Sante
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Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Nineteen Reservoirs explores the fascinating history behind New York City's vast upstate reservoir system, which supplies fresh water to one of the world's greatest metropolises. Luc Sante offers a meticulously detailed and immersive account, revealing the significant impact of these engineered bodies of water on the city’s development and survival, as well as reflecting on their importance to the past, present, and future of New York.
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Format: Hardback
$4799
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This book is ideal for readers interested in urban history, engineering, environmental studies, and New York City’s infrastructural heritage.

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Acclaimed author Luc Sante's meticulously researched account of the creation of the upstate reservoir system that, in supplying water to New York City, makes its very existence possible-but irreparably altered rural ecosystems and communities

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Thirty years ago, Low Life appeared to universal acclaim and secured Luc Sante's status as the author of that cult classic of alternative New York City history. Now, he returns with another sidelong NYC history—here, the making of the upstate reservoir system that reliably supplies one of the world's greatest metropolises with its fresh water, and without which the city would almost certainly have faded into insignificance.

This meticulously detailed book is both an immersive history and a meditation on the significance of these willed-from-nature bodies of water to the city—past, present, and future.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

A Washington Post Best Nonfiction Book of 2022 and an Indie Bestseller

Critics have praised Sante’s distinctive and addictive writing style, with Nineteen Reservoirs noted as a beautifully produced work, enriched by expertly reproduced period photographs and postcards. Reviewers commend it as an essential and underreported history, providing deep insight into the costs and consequences of securing New York City’s fresh water supply. Notable praise comes from The New York Times, Vanity Fair, and InsideHook.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781615198658

Publisher: The Experiment LLC

Format: Hardback

Date Published: 09 August 2022

Country: United States

Imprint: The Experiment LLC

Illustration: 123 B&W and color photographs and illustrations

Contributors:

  • Illustrated by Tim Davis

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 23.0mm

Width: 147.0mm

Height: 239.0mm

Weight: 545g

Pages: 208

Collections

Education & Reference Engineering, Technology & Agriculture Luc Sante Lucy Sante Non-Fiction Science & Nature

About the Author

Luc Sante was born in Verviers, Belgium, and is the author of six books, his first being Low Life (FSG, 1991). Sante's other books include Evidence, The Factory of Facts, Kill All Your Darlings, The Other Paris, Folk Photography, and, most recently, Maybe the People Would Be the Times. He is the recipient of a Whiting Award, Guggenheim and Cullman fellowships, an Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, a Grammy (for album notes), and an Infinity Award for Writing from the International Center of Photography.

Tim Davis studied photography at Bard College, graduating in 1991. His work is in the collections of the Guggenheim, Whitney, Brooklyn, and Metropolitan Museums in New York; the Milwaukee Museum of Art; the High Museum of Art, Atlanta; the Baltimore Museum; the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC; and numerous others.

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